And now for a most novel idea in motion picture plotting: The CIA and other foreign government intelligence are corrupted by several bad bad bad agents. These agents are so bad that they’ve killed innocent civilians to cover up their own double dealings and double crossings within these agencies. Pure genius!

I’m hooked, right? Right?

Enter Ryan Reynolds working for the CIA as Matt Weston, a young housekeeper of a ‘safe house’ designed for suspected terrorist interrogations. He’s never even seen live field duty because he spends his time monitoring empty rooms while waiting for an interrogation party to come his way. He also lives with a French lady friend who knows nothing of his secret government occupation. Matt dreams of getting out of the watchdog business and into some real field work, but his mentor, operative David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson), instructs him to be patient.

His days of tossing tennis balls against a bare wall come to a halt when suspected double-agent Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) finds himself captured by the American government. These armed men attempt to torture Frost for information on his recent shady activity involving the interception of a very important flash drive. Frost keeps hush and smiles for more abuse.

Suddenly the safe house is breached. Cue the large shootout. Everyone dies except for Frost and Weston. Weston, not knowing what to do, trusts the hierarchy above him, and attempts to transport Frost to the next safe house. Things don’t go as planned and Weston must attempt to figure out why Mr. Frost is wanted dead by so many people if he wants to stay alive himself.

As swiftly stylized and edited as Safe House can be, almost completely mimicking a Tony Scott film, writer David Guggenheim and director Daniel Espinsosa (both first-timers) find little excitement in developing a ho-hum story. They are preaching their ‘ideas’ as though they haven’t been sitting stale in a fridge for several weeks. Instead, Safe House best functions as a Bourne copycat, resorting to the now-standard slice-and-dice editing style that replaces the need for believable fight choreography.

Not to say that action in Safe House is bad—it’s not. In fact, it can be particularly thrilling. But why? The filmmakers have given us a Denzel Washington thriller that unwisely focuses on a boring Ryan Reynolds-played character who offers nothing in the way of audience attachment. Since he’s not remotely interesting, and his motives for ushering around Washington’s dangerous character are purely a means of furthering the narrative, we only have the great Denzel to root for. And I’m sorry to say it, but his villain/anti-hero fence walking never had me convinced that he was anything but a hero, despite fractured motives. I won’t even get into his age issues—as good as he still looks for late 50s, I don’t buy him snapping necks like Bourne and dodging machine gun fire from multiple assassins. He and Liam Neeson should think about Expendables 3.

The film is also saddled with supporting actors in Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson and Sam Shepherd. These names have side-splitting talent, and wouldn’t you know they’re wasted on one-note characters? Perhaps Gleeson gets a little more to do here, but ultimately this megawatt cast has been assembled to deliver by-the-numbers action and story that is only elevated by the fact that we have these actors that are far better than the material would have you believe.

If I’m making Safe House sound awful, I apologize. It’s not. Since I recognize that I’m continually veering into negative-town here, I will attest I didn’t have a bad time at the film. It’s adequately shot, very violent, gritty, just not for any particular engaging reason. The movie gets a pass because the actors elevate it and make it plenty watchable, even if it’s plenty forgettable. Ignore the ads. Safe House is plenty safe, but you won’t have a bad time.

Featured Reviews

You would think it a general rule of thumb not to steal from Liam Neeson, whether it be his daughter or his identity—he will find you and he will kill you. Europe ain’t getting the message, because Neeson is hunting down its baddies again. He plays Dr. Martin Harris en route to a biotechnology conference […]

It’s all about the teeth. Aside from the brilliant acting, spectacular setpieces, and sweeping epic scale of HBO’s John Adams, it’s the teeth that stand out more than anything. To wit: as people age, so do their teeth, and in days long gone when toothpaste and mouthwash were as common as combustion engines and power […]

It has been over 70 years since the Wizard of Oz graced the silver screen, so obviously Disney decided it was about time to make the prequel to one of the most beloved cinematic works of all time. Of course their decision could only have been easier once they opted for action/horror movie extraordinaire, Sam […]